1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a display control device for a vehicle which controls image display on a windshield.
2. Related Art
Head up display devices (which will also be referred to as “HUD devices”) are known each of which displays display images including predetermined images and letters on the windshield of the vehicle. The HUD device shows the driver information by displaying, on the windshield, information of the traveling state of the vehicle such as the vehicle velocity, a virtual image superimposed and displayed on an image of the real world, an image of the shape of the road ahead of the vehicle with respect to the traveling direction, a guidance arrow toward the destination, an image or a letter for showing the road condition, or the like (this display will also be referred to as “HUD display”). If HUD display displayed on the windshield overlaps with rain, fog, sunlight, obstacles, and the like, the HUD display is difficult to watch in some cases. To address this, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2009-248721, JP-A No. 2015-163501, JP-A No. 2005-69799, and JP-A No. 2006-78635 each disclose the technology of controlling the display position of HUD display in accordance with the visibility of the HUD display.
HUD display includes display (which will also be referred to as “traveling direction information display”) for presenting information of the traveling direction of a vehicle such as a preceding vehicle, the shape of a road, a pedestrian, or an obstacle, and display (which will be referred to as “driving information display”) for presenting information other than information of the vehicle traveling direction such as vehicle velocity, a guidance arrow to the destination, or traffic congestion information. The driving information display does not directly relate to driving safety even if the visibility of a driver decreases. The traveling direction information display can, however, serve as important display for allowing the driver to learn information of the vehicle traveling direction.
An area that decreases the visibility of HUD display also obscures the driver's field of view. Accordingly, if an area that decreases the visibility of HUD display is formed at a position at which the area obscures the driver's field of view when traveling direction information display is not displayed, it is possible to supplement the driver's field of view by displaying traveling direction information on the area that decreases the visibility.